How to Begin?

Well, at the beginning, I suppose. I am a somewhat typical American male. Somewhat active in school, I was on the swim team and took Karate lessons. I could eat anything with impunity and did.

But then I went to college and started drinking beer and eating almost nothing but cheap carbs. I started smoking, stopped working out and began to bloat.

I was severely depressive, in a terrible relationship (for both of us... I gave as good as I got) and had no tools, no skills and no effective support net. So I entered a pretty self-destructive cycle. In a gift from the Gods, I somehow decided to chuck it all, sell all my stuff and bicycle out to the West Coast. Originally, I'd planned on ending up in Los Angeles, but ran out of money in Seattle.

I'd been living on the saddle of a bike for months and whittled my weight down to 190 pounds. I was ripped. My thighs were so large in comparison to my waist, I couldn't wear normal trousers.

Unfortunately, Mr. Destructo caught up with me, and I spiraled back into a series of self-destructive patterns. Drinking, smoking and eating terrible food (and waaay too much of it) jumpstarted the cycle.

I fell in love, got married, bought a house in the suburbs... and nearly died. I was so lonesome and miserable I had no idea who or what I was. But I was pretty clear that this wasn't it.

And then...